Tagged With: teaching American History
Day five – Appomattox Court House
First off, I’d like to explain that Appomattox Court house is not a courthouse. It is a town that is the county seat of Appomattox County. This is important because if Grant would have asked Lee to meet him at the courthouse, Lee would have assumed he was going to be arrested and tried … Continue reading
Day Four –Confederate Relic Museum and Greensboro, North Carolina
In 1896 members of the Daughters of the Confederacy founded a museum in Columbia, South Carolina. The point of the museum was to do two things. First, to keep and protect the history of the Confederacy and second, to help the history of the Confederacy to become a part of the whole history of the … Continue reading
Day three- Fort Sumter and a kayak trip!
Fort Sumter was built in 1829. It is an island at the mouth of Charleston Harbor, and perfectly positioned to defend Charleston from invaders coming from the Atlantic. The island is man-made. They sunk 70,000 tons of granite plus bricks from local plantations to create the foundation of the island. In April 12th at 4:30 … Continue reading
Day two- Boone Hall, Gullah Culture, walking tour of Charleston and Old Slave Market
This morning dawned partly cloudy, very warm and humid. I, however, was sleeping at the time! We had an 8:45 start to our day today. We started out at Boone Hall. This is a plantation with amazing history. The original plantation house was built in 1681 on 500 acres that was granted to John Boone … Continue reading
Day one of the 2013 Teaching American History Grant Trip
I’ve been up since 2:30 am this morning. We hit the airport in Denver by 3:30. The good thing about that horrible time of the night is that there was no waiting at security! We flew first to Chicago and then transferred flights and ended up here in Charleston, South Carolina. Thirty teachers plus … Continue reading
Spring Blizzards and Warm Thoughts
I’m snuggled in tightly at home today, though it is a Tuesday and my students are sitting in their seats. We are in the midst of a spring blizzard and all the highways are closed, keeping me from being there with them. The powers that be decided not to call off school, even though the … Continue reading
A Writer’s Blessings
I did a book signing at a book fair and chili bash the other night at the school where I teach. I have told my students that I’ve published a book. and several staff members and a few parents have already bought Mountain Time and read it. It never stops humbling me when someone tells … Continue reading
Cliff? What cliff?
During the recent presidential campaign, I frequently wore a button that said “George Washington for President”. I picked it up when I visited Mount Vernon last summer with the Teaching American History group. I thought it would be a fun conversation piece with my students, especially since I couldn’t (and wouldn’t want to, really) share … Continue reading
Mountain Time has been released!
Wow, I can’t even describe the mix of emotions I have felt this week. My first published novel is now available for the public to read. I’ve gotten lots of congratulatory emails, and friends are ordering copies and reading it. Excitement, pride, total fear. This is different from anything I have experienced. To announce Mountain … Continue reading
Philadelphia with Teaching American History Grant
I’m just back from ten days in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. with thirty-one teachers and a terrific professor as our guide, mentor and teacher. We all read and wrote papers all winter to prepare for the trip – focusing on the Revolutionary War and the writing of the Constitution. Here are highlights from my trip: Tuesday, June … Continue reading
